Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill corner leading to the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran ended the session in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car in third, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
